Methods and apparatus for providing a resource element (RE) identification system to process received uplink transmissions

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for providing a resource element identification system to process received uplink transmissions. In an embodiment, a method is provided that includes receiving one or more symbols from an uplink transmission. Each symbol comprises resource elements. The method also includes categorizing the resource elements into a plurality of categories to generated categorized resource elements, and forwarding the categorized resource elements to downstream processing functions.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of a U.S. patent application havingan application Ser. No. 16/421,917, filed on May 24, 2019, and entitled“Methods and Apparatus for Providing A Resource Element (RE)Identification System to Process Received Uplink Transmissions,” whichhas been issued into a U.S. patent with a U.S. Pat. No. 11,129,091,which further claims the benefit of priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/676,821, filed on May 25, 2018, and entitled “Methodand Apparatus for Processing Control Information during Wireless DataTransmission,” all of which are hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entirety.

FIELD

The exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to operationof a telecommunications network. More specifically, the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention relate to receiving and processingdata streams using a wireless telecommunication network.

BACKGROUND

With a rapidly growing trend of mobile and remote data access over ahigh-speed communication network such as Long Term Evolution (LTE),fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G) cellular services,accurately delivering and deciphering data streams become increasinglychallenging and difficult. The high-speed communication network, whichis capable of delivering information includes, but is not limited to,wireless networks, cellular networks, wireless personal area networks(“WPAN”), wireless local area networks (“WLAN”), wireless metropolitanarea networks (“MAN”), or the like. While WPAN can be Bluetooth orZigBee, WLAN may be a Wi-Fi network in accordance with IEEE 802.11 WLANstandards.

In 5G systems, reference signals, data, and uplink control information(UCI) may be included in uplink transmissions from user equipment. Thereference signals (RS) are used to estimate channel conditions or forother purposes. However, the reference signals are mixed in with data sothat the reference signals must be accounted for when the data and/orUCI information is processed. For example, when processing resourceelements (REs) received in an uplink transmission, special processingmay be needed to skip over resource elements that contain referencesignals. Even if the reference signals are set to zero or empty, theirresource elements still need to be accounted for when processing thereceived data.

Therefore, it is desirable to have a system that enables efficientprocessing of data and UCI information received in uplink transmissions.

SUMMARY

In various exemplary embodiments, methods and apparatus are provided fora resource element identification (REI) system that enables fast andefficient processing of received 4G and/or 5G uplink transmissions. Invarious exemplary embodiments, methods and apparatus are provided forindexing, identifying, and categorizing resource elements received inuplink transmissions. In one aspect, an information stream is receivedthat contains reference signals, data, and uplink control information.After extracting the reference signals from the information stream, theresulting symbols will comprise resource elements containing either alldata or data multiplexed with UCI information. For example, thereference signals are only multiplexed with data and therefore when thereference signals are removed only data remains in those symbols. In anembodiment, the UCI information comprises hybrid automatic repeatrequest (“HARQ”) acknowledgements (“ACK”), first channel stateinformation (“CSI1”), and second channel state information (CSI2).

In an embodiment, an RE identifier indexes and categorizes each RE ofthe received uplink symbols into one of three categories. For example,category 0 is data or CSI2 information, category 1 is ACK information,and category 2 is CSI1 information. After storing the categorized REs inan array, the array is forwarded to a soft demapper that providesspecial treatment when predefined conditions are met. In one embodiment,the categorized REs are also forwarded to a descrambler that providesscrambling code modification when predefined conditions are met. In oneembodiment, the categorized REs are forwarded to a UCIcombiner/extractor for combining one or more REs to produce UCIinformation. In one example, the categorized REs are forwarded to asignal to noise plus interference ratio (“SINR”) calculator thatcalculates SINR values.

In an embodiment, a method is provided that includes receiving one ormore symbols from an uplink transmission. Each symbol comprises resourceelements. The method also includes categorizing the resource elementsinto a plurality of categories to generated categorized resourceelements, and forwarding the categorized resource elements to downstreamprocessing functions.

In an embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes an inputinterface that receives one or more symbols. Each symbol comprisesresource elements. The apparatus also comprises a categorizer thatcategorizes the resource elements into a plurality of categories togenerate categorized resource elements. The apparatus also comprises anoutput interface that outputs the categorized resource elements todownstream processing functions.

Additional features and benefits of the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention will become apparent from the detailed description,figures and claims set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The exemplary aspects of the present invention will be understood morefully from the detailed description given below and from theaccompanying drawings of various embodiments of the invention, which,however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specificembodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a communication network in whichresource elements received in uplink transmissions from user equipmentare categorized by exemplary embodiments of a resource elementidentification system.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary detailed embodiment of the resource elementidentification system shown in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram illustrating a detailed exemplaryembodiment of an RE identifier block shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary method for performing resource elementcategorization in accordance with exemplary embodiments of a resourceelement identification system.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram illustrating a processing system having anexemplary embodiment of a resource element identification system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present invention are described below in the context ofmethods and apparatus for processing uplink information received in awireless transmission.

The purpose of the following detailed description is to provide anunderstanding of one or more embodiments of the present invention. Thoseof ordinary skills in the art will realize that the following detaileddescription is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any waylimiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to suchskilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure and/ordescription.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of theimplementations described herein are shown and described. It will, ofcourse, be understood that in the development of any such actualimplementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions may be madein order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliancewith application- and business-related constraints, and that thesespecific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from onedeveloper to another. Moreover, it will be understood that such adevelopment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those ofordinary skills in the art having the benefit of embodiments of thisdisclosure.

Various embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the drawingsmay not be drawn to scale. Rather, the dimensions of the variousfeatures may be expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some ofthe drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may notdepict all of the components of a given apparatus (e.g., device) ormethod. The same reference indicators will be used throughout thedrawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same orlike parts.

The term “system” or “device” is used generically herein to describe anynumber of components, elements, sub-systems, devices, packet switchelements, packet switches, access switches, routers, networks, modems,base stations, eNB (eNodeB), computer and/or communication devices ormechanisms, or combinations of components thereof. The term “computer”includes a processor, memory, and buses capable of executing instructionwherein the computer refers to one or a cluster of computers, personalcomputers, workstations, mainframes, or combinations of computersthereof.

IP communication network, IP network, or communication network means anytype of network having an access network that is able to transmit datain a form of packets or cells, such as ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)type, on a transport medium, for example, the TCP/IP or UDP/IP type. ATMcells are the result of decomposition (or segmentation) of packets ofdata, IP type, and those packets (here IP packets) comprise an IPheader, a header specific to the transport medium (for example UDP orTCP) and payload data. The IP network may also include a satellitenetwork, a DVB-RCS (Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel System)network, providing Internet access via satellite, or an SDMB (SatelliteDigital Multimedia Broadcast) network, a terrestrial network, a cable(xDSL) network or a mobile or cellular network (GPRS/EDGE, or UMTS(where applicable of the MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services)type, or the evolution of the UMTS known as LTE (Long Term Evolution),or DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handhelds)), or a hybrid (satelliteand terrestrial) network.

In various exemplary embodiments, methods and apparatus are provided foridentifying and categorizing resource elements received in uplinktransmissions. In one aspect, an information stream is received thatcontains data and uplink control information. After extracting referencesignals from the information stream, the remaining REs contain maycontain ACK, CSI1, and CSI2 information. These REs are indexed andcategorized. After storing the categorized REs in an array, the array isforwarded to a soft demapper for providing a special treatment when apredefined condition is met. In one embodiment, the REs are alsoforwarded to a descrambler for providing code modification, and a UCIcombiner/extractor for combining one or more REs to extract UCIinformation. In one aspect, after forwarding the categorized REs to aSINR calculator, the SINR calculator generates associated SINR values.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a communication network 100 in whichresource elements received in uplink transmissions from user equipmentare categorized by exemplary embodiments of a resource elementidentification system 152. The network 100 includes packet data networkgateway (“P-GW”) 120, two serving gateways (“S-GWs”) 121-122, two basestations (or cell sites) 102-104, server 124, and Internet 150. P-GW 120includes various components 140, such as billing module 142, subscribingmodule 144, and/or tracking module 146 to facilitate routing activitiesbetween sources and destinations. It should be noted that the underlyingconcept of the exemplary embodiments would not change if one or moreblocks (or devices) were added to or removed from network 100.

The network 100 may operate as a fourth generation (“4G”), Long TermEvolution (LTE), Fifth Generation (5G), New Radio (NR), or combinationof 4G and 5G cellular network configurations. Mobility Management Entity(MME) 126, in one aspect, is coupled to base stations (or cell site) andS-GWs capable of facilitating data transfer between 4G LTE and 5G. MME126 performs various controlling/managing functions, network securities,and resource allocations.

S-GW 121 or 122, in one example, coupled to P-GW 120, MME 126, and basestations 102 or 104, is capable of routing data packets from basestation 102, or eNodeB, to P-GW 120 and/or MME 126. A function of S-GW121 or 122 is to perform an anchoring function for mobility between 3Gand 4G equipment. S-GW 122 is also able to perform various networkmanagement functions, such as terminating paths, paging idle UEs,storing data, routing information, generating replica, and the like.

P-GW 120, coupled to S-GWs 121-122 and Internet 150, is able to providenetwork communication between user equipment (“UE”) and IP basednetworks such as Internet 150. P-GW 120 is used for connectivity, packetfiltering, inspection, data usage, billing, or PCRF (policy and chargingrules function) enforcement, et cetera. P-GW 120 also provides ananchoring function for mobility between 4G and 5G packet core networks.

Base station 102 or 104, also known as cell site, node B, or eNodeB,includes one or more radio towers 110 or 112. Radio tower 110 or 112 isfurther coupled to various UEs, such as a cellular phone 106, a handhelddevice 108, tablets and/or iPad® 107 via wireless communications orchannels 137-139. Devices 106-108 can be portable devices or mobiledevices, such as iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Android®, and so on. Base station102 facilitates network communication between mobile devices such as UEs106-107 with S-GW 121 via radio towers 110. It should be noted that basestation or cell site can include additional radio towers as well asother land switching circuitry.

To improve efficiency and/or speed-up extracting uplink controlinformation received from any of the user equipment, the REI system 152is provided that operates to identify and categorize resource elementsreceived in an uplink transmission. For example, in an embodiment, theREI system 152 operates to categorize resource elements received inPUSCH transmissions. For example, a first category includes REs thatcontain data or CSI2 information, a second category includes REs thatcontain ACK information, and a third category includes REs that containCSI1 information. The categorized REs are passed to a soft demapper,descrambler, UCI combiner/extractor, and SINR calculator blocks. Each ofthese blocks may modify their operations based on the categories of thereceived REs. For example, the soft demapper provides special treatmentfor REs based on category. By adjusting the operation of thesefunctional blocks based on the category of the received REs, theprocessing of the received uplink transmission can be performed withgreater efficiency. A more detailed description of the REI system 152 isprovided below.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary detailed embodiment of the REI system 152shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 shows user equipment (“UE”) 224 having antenna222 that allows wireless communication with base station 112 throughwireless transmissions 226. The UE 224 transmits uplink communications230 that are received by base station front end (FE) 228. In anembodiment, the base station includes gain normalizer 202, inversetransform block (IDFT) 204, configuration parameters 222, processingtype detector 208, RS remover 210, layer demapper 212, despreader 214,and the REI system 152. In an embodiment, the REI system 152 comprises,RE identifier 232, soft demapper 216, descrambler 218,combiner/extractor 220, and SINR calculator 234.

In an embodiment, the receiver of the uplink transmission processes 1symbol at a time, which may come from multiple layers for NR, and thereceiver of the uplink transmission processes the whole subframe or slotof a layer for LTE covering 1 ms transmission time interval (TTI),7-OFDM symbol (OS) short (s) TTI, and 2/3-OS sTTI. The modulation ordercan be derived as follows.

1. (π/2) BPSK for NR

2. (π/2) BPSK for LTE sub-PRB, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, and 256QAM

Furthermore, demapping rules apply to constellations as defined in LTE(4G) and/or NR (5G) Standards.

Configuration Parameters (Block 222)

In an embodiment, the configuration parameters 222 comprise multiplefields that contain parameters for use by multiple blocks shown in FIG.2 . For example, some of the configuration parameters 222 control theoperation of the gain normalizer 202, IDFT 204 and REI system 152. In anembodiment, the configuration parameters 222 may indicate that the gainnormalizer 202 and the IDFT 204 are to be bypassed. In an embodiment,the configuration parameters 222 are used by the soft demapper 216 todetermine when to apply special treatment when soft demapping receivedresource elements. The configuration parameters 222 are also used tocontrol the operation of the descrambler 218, UCI combiner/extractor220, and/or the SINR calculator 234.

Gain Normalizer (Block 202)

In an embodiment, the gain normalizer 202 performs a gain normalizationfunction on the received uplink transmission. For example, the gainnormalizer 202 is applicable to LTE and NR DFT-s-OFDM cases. Inputsamples will be normalized as follows per data symbol per subcarrierwith a norm gain value calculated per symbol as follows.Gainnorm_out [Ds][sc]=(Gainnorm_in [Ds][sc])/(Norm_Gain[Ds])IDFT (Block 204)

The IDFT 204 operates to provide an inverse transform to generate timedomain signals. In an embodiment, the IDFT 204 is enabled only for LTEand NR DFT-s-OFDM and LTE sub-PRB. In an embodiment, the inputs andoutputs are assumed to be 16 bits I and Q values, respectively. The DFTand IDFT operations are defined as follows.

${{{DFT}:{X\lbrack k\rbrack}} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{N - 1}{{x\lbrack n\rbrack}W_{N}^{kn}}}}}{and}{{{IDFT}:{X\lbrack k\rbrack}} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{N - 1}{{x\lbrack n\rbrack}W_{N}^{- {kn}}}}}}$

where W_(N)=e^(−2πj/N).

Processing Type Detector (Block 208)

In exemplary embodiments, the processing type detector 214 detects thetype of processing to be performed by the system. For example, thisinformation may be detected from the configuration parameters 222. In anembodiment, the processing type detector 208 operates to detect one oftwo processing types, which cover the operation of the system asfollows.

1. Type 1—5G NR DFT-s-OFDM

2. Type 1—5G NR CP-OFDM

3. Type 2—5G NR PUCCH Format 4

RS Remover (Block 210)

In an embodiment, the RS remover 210 operates during Type 1 processingto remove RS resource elements from the received data stream to producea stream of data that is input to the layer demapper. For example, theRE locations of the RS symbols are identified and the data is re-writteninto one or more buffers to remove the RS symbols to produce an outputthat contains only data. In an embodiment, Type 1 processing includesRS/DTX removal, layer demapping with an interleaving structure, softdemapping, and descrambling. A benefit of removal of the RS REs beforelayering is to enable a single shot descrambling process without anydisturbance in a continuous fashion with no extra buffering.

Layer Demapper (Block 212)

In an embodiment, data and signal to interference noise ratio (SINR)coming from multiple layers of a certain subcarrier will be transferredinto a layer demapping circuit (not shown) via multi-threaded read DMAoperation. In this case, each thread will point to the memory locationof different layers for a certain symbol. The layer demapper 212produces demapped data and multiple pSINR reports per layer. In anembodiment, for NR the DMRS/PTRS/DTX REs will be removed from theinformation stream prior to soft demapping for both I/Q and SINRsamples.

Despreader (Block 214)

In an embodiment, the despreader 214 provides despreading Type 2processing for PUCCH Format 4 only. Despreading comprises combining therepeated symbols along the frequency axis upon multiplying them with theconjugate of the proper spreading sequence. The spreading sequence indexas well as the spreading type for combining the information in a correctway will be given by the configuration parameters 222. This process isalways performed over 12 REs in total. The number of REs that will bepushed into subsequent blocks will be reduced by half or ¼th afterdespreading depending upon the spreading type. Combined results will beaveraged and stored as 16-bit information before soft demapping.

REI System (Block 152)

In an embodiment, the REI system 152 comprises, the RE identifier 232,the soft demapper 216, the descrambler 218, the combiner/extractor 220,and the SINR calculator 234. During operation the REI system 152categorizes resource elements and passes these categorized REs to thesoft demapper 216 and one or more other blocks of the REI system 152. Inan embodiment, the soft demapper 216 uses the categorized REs todetermine when to apply special treatment to the soft demapping process.

Resource Element Identifier (Block 232)

In an embodiment, the RE identifier 232 operates to process a receivedinformation stream of resource elements to identify, index, andcategorized each element. An index and categorization of each element(e.g., RE information 236) is passed to the soft demapper 216 and otherblocks of the REI system 152. A more detailed description of theoperation of the RE identifier 232 is provided below.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram illustrating a detailed exemplaryembodiment of the RE identifier 232 shown in FIG. 2 . As illustrated inFIG. 3 , the RE identifier 232 comprises RE input interface 302,parameter receiver 304, categorizer 306, and RE output interface 308.

During operation, an uplink transmission is received and processed bythe above described blocks to produce an information stream, such as theinformation stream 312. For example, the received uplink transmission isprocessed by at least one of the processing type detector 208, layerdemapper 212 or the despreader 214. As a result, the information stream312 does not contain any reference signals (RS) but contains data ordata multiplexed with UCI information and this stream is input to the REidentifier 232.

The information stream 312, in one embodiment, includes information ordata bits and UCI bits. In one example, the UCI bits, such as ACK bits,CSI1 bits, and/or CSI2 bits, are scattered throughout information stream312. For instance, UCI bits are mixed with the data bits as illustrated.

In an embodiment, during 5G operation, the RE identifier 232 correctlyidentifies the RE indices of the UCI bits for soft demapper specialtreatment, descrambler code modification, and UCI combining/extractionas shown in FIG. 2 . The RE indices of the UCI bits are also used forgenerating the SINR report values for ACK and CSI1 as well for NRCP-OFDM operation.

In an embodiment, the RE identification process will process 2 REs percycle, indicated at 314. For example, the resource elements of thereceived stream 312 are received by the RE input interface 302, whichprovides the received information to the categorizer 306. The parameterreceiver 304 receives parameters 310 from the configuration parameterblock 222. The categorizer 306 uses these parameters to categorize thereceived resource elements and after categorizing the received REs, thecategorizer 306 stores the categorized REs in an array, such as thearray 316. In an embodiment, the identification of RE1 can be obtainedbased on multiple hypothesizes of RE0. Similarly, RE2 identification canbe derived based on multiple hypothesizes of RE0 and RE1. The RE outputinterface 308 outputs the categorized REs to the soft demapper 216,descrambler 218, UCI combiner 220, and SINR calculator 234. In oneaspect, the components of soft demapper 216, descrambler 218, UCIcombiner 220, and SINR calculator 234 are interconnected fortransferring certain information between the components.

In various embodiments, the soft demapper 216 provides special treatmentto REs based on certain UCI categories. The descrambler 218 is capableof providing code modification based on certain UCI categories. The UCIcombiner/extractor 220 is capable of combining DATA, ACK, CSI1 and/orCSI2 information. The SINR calculator 234 is capable of calculatingdata/CSI2 SINR, as well as other RE related SINRs, such as an ACK SINRand a CSI SINR.

Soft Demapper

The soft demapping principle is based on computing the log-likelihoodratio (LLR) of a bit that quantifies the level of certainty on whetherit is logical zero or one. The Soft demapper 216 processes symbol bysymbol and RE by RE within a symbol.

The soft demapping principle is based on computing the log-likelihoodratio (LLR) of a bit that quantifies the level of certainty on whetherit is logical zero or one. Under the assumption of Gaussian noise, LLRfor the i-th bit is given by:

$\begin{matrix}{{LLR}_{i} = {{\ln\left( \frac{P\left( {{bit}_{i} = {0/r}} \right)}{P\left( {{bit}_{i} = {1/r}} \right)} \right)} = {\ln\left( \frac{\sum\limits_{j}e^{\frac{- {({x - c_{j}})}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}}}{\sum\limits_{k}e^{\frac{- {({x - c_{k}})}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}}} \right)}}} \\{= {{\ln\left( {\sum\limits_{j}e^{\frac{- {({x - c_{j}})}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}}} \right)} - {\ln\left( {\sum\limits_{k}e^{\frac{- {({x - c_{k}})}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}}} \right)}}}\end{matrix}$where c_(j) and c_(k) are the constellation points for which i-th bittakes the value of 0 and 1, respectively. Note that for the gray mappedmodulation schemes given in [R1], x may be taken to refer to a singledimension I or Q. Computation complexity increases linearly with themodulation order. A max-log MAP approximation has been adopted in orderto reduce the computational complexity. Note that this approximation isnot necessary for QPSK since its LLR has only one term on both numeratorand denominator.

${{\ln{\sum\limits_{m}e^{- d_{m}}}} \cong {\max\left( {- d_{m}} \right)}} = {\min\left( d_{m} \right)}$

This approximation is accurate enough especially in the high SNR regionand simplifies the LLR calculation drastically avoiding the complexexponential and logarithmic operations. Given that I and Q are real andimaginary part of input samples, the soft LLR is defined as follows for(π/2) BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, and 256QAM, respectively.

In an embodiment, the soft demapper 216 includes a first minimumfunction component (“MFC”), a second MFC, a special treatment component(“STC”), a subtractor, and/or an LLR generator. A function of softdemapper 216 is to demap or ascertain soft bit information associated toreceived symbols or bit streams. For example, soft demapper 216 employssoft demapping principle which is based on computing the log-likelihoodratio (LLR) of a bit that quantifies the level of certainty as towhether it is a logical zero or one. To reduce noise and interference,soft demapper 216 is also capable of discarding one or more unusedconstellation points relating to the frequency of the bit stream fromthe constellation map.

The STC, in one aspect, is configured to force an infinity value as oneinput to the first MFC when the stream of bits is identified and aspecial treatment is needed. For example, a predefined control signalwith a specific set of encoding categories such as ACK with a set ofpredefined encoding categories requires a special treatment. One of thespecial treatments, in one aspect, is to force infinity values as inputsto MFCs. For example, STC force infinity values as inputs to the firstand the second MFCs when the stream of bits is identified as ACK or CSI1with a predefined encoding category. The STC, in one instance, isconfigured to determine whether a special treatment (or specialtreatment function) is required based on received bit stream or symbols.In one aspect, the 1-bit and 2-bit control signals with predefinedencoding categories listed in Table 1 require special treatments. Itshould be noted that Table 1 is exemplary and that other configurationsare possible.

TABLE 1 Control Signal with Renamed No. Encoding Categories Categories 1O^(ACK) = 1 ACK[1] 2 O^(ACK) = 2 ACK[2] 3 O^(CSI1) = 1 CSI1[1] 4O^(CSI1) = 2 CSI1[2]Descrambler (Block 218)

The descrambler 218 is configured to generate a descrambling sequence ofbits or a stream of bits. For example, after generating a sequence inaccordance with the input value, the descrambler determines whethersequence modification is needed for certain categories of controlinformation received from the REI block 232. The stream of bits orsequence is subsequently descrambled to produce a set of descrambledsoft bits.

Combiner/Extractor (Block 220)

The combiner/extractor 220 provides a combining and extracting functionto combine descrambled soft bits from the descrambler 218 and extractUplink Control Information. In an embodiment, the combiner/extractormodifies it operation based on categories received from REI block 232.

SINR Calculator (Block 234)

The SINR calculator 234 calculates SINR for per UCI type based oncategories received from REI block 232.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary method 400 for performing resource elementcategorization in accordance with exemplary embodiments of an REIsystem. For example, the method 400 is suitable for use with the REIsystem 152 shown in FIG. 2 .

At block 402, uplink transmissions are received in a 5G communicationnetwork. For example, the uplink transmissions are received at the frontend 228 shown in FIG. 2 .

At block 404, gain normalization is performed. For example, the gainnormalization is performed by the gain normalizer 202 shown in FIG. 2 .

At block 406, an inverse Fourier transform is performed to obtain timedomain signals. For example, this process is performed by the IDFT block204 shown in FIG. 2 .

At block 408, a determination is made as to a type of processing to beperformed. For example, a description of two processing types isprovided above. If a first type of processing is to be performed, themethod proceeds to block 410. If a second type of processing is to beperformed, the method proceeds to block 424. For example, this operationis performed by the processing type detector 208 shown in FIG. 2 .

At block 424, when the processing type is Type 2, despreading isperformed on the received resource elements. For example, this operationis performed by the despreader 214 shown in FIG. 2 . The method thenproceeds to block 414.

When the processing type is Type 1, the follow operations are performed.

At block 410, the reference signals are removed from the receivedresource elements. For example, resource elements containing RS/DTX areremoved. This operation is performed by the RS remover 210 shown in FIG.2 .

At block 412, layer demapping is performed. For example, the resourceelements without RS/DTX are layer demapped. This operation is performedby the layer demapper 212.

At block 414, RE identification and categorization is performed. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , the RE identifier 232 receives astream of REs, categorizes the REs, and then outputs the array 316 inwhich the REs are indexed and include categorization values.

At block 416, soft demapping is performed. For example, the softdemapper 216 soft-demaps the REs with special treatment provided basedon the categorization of the received REs. The soft demapper 216produces a soft-demapped output that is input to the descrambler 218.

At block 418, descrambling is performed. For example, the descrambler218 receives the soft demapped bits from the soft demapper 216 andgenerates descrambled bits. In an embodiment, based on thecategorization of the REs, a modified descrambler code is used.

At block 420, combining and extraction of UCI information is performed.For example, the combiner/extractor 220 receives the descrambled bits,combines these bits, and extracts the UCI information.

At block 422, SINR calculations are performed to calculate data/CSI2,ACK, and CSI1 SINR values.

Thus, the method 400 operates to provide resource element identificationand categorization in accordance with the exemplary embodiments. Itshould be noted that the operations of the method 400 can be modified,added to, deleted, rearranged, or otherwise changed within the scope ofthe embodiments.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram illustrating a processing system 500 havingan exemplary embodiment of an REI system 530. It will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art that other alternative computersystem architectures may also be employed.

The system 500 includes a processing unit 501, an interface bus 512, andan input/output (“IO”) unit 520. Processing unit 501 includes aprocessor 502, main memory 504, system bus 511, static memory device506, bus control unit 505, and mass storage memory 508. Bus 511 is usedto transmit information between various components and processor 502 fordata processing. Processor 502 may be any of a wide variety ofgeneral-purpose processors, embedded processors, or microprocessors suchas ARM® embedded processors, Intel® Core™2 Duo, Core™2 Quad, Xeon®,Pentium™ microprocessor, AMD® family processors, MIPS® embeddedprocessors, or Power PC™ microprocessor.

Main memory 504, which may include multiple levels of cache memories,stores frequently used data and instructions. Main memory 504 may be RAM(random access memory), MRAM (magnetic RAM), or flash memory. Staticmemory 506 may be a ROM (read-only memory), which is coupled to bus 511,for storing static information and/or instructions. Bus control unit 505is coupled to buses 511-512 and controls which component, such as mainmemory 504 or processor 502, can use the bus. Mass storage memory 508may be a magnetic disk, solid-state drive (“SSD”), optical disk, harddisk drive, floppy disk, CD-ROM, and/or flash memories for storing largeamounts of data.

I/O unit 520, in one example, includes a display 521, keyboard 522,cursor control device 523, decoder 524, and communication device 525.Display device 521 may be a liquid crystal device, flat panel monitor,cathode ray tube (“CRT”), touch-screen display, or other suitabledisplay device. Display 521 projects or displays graphical images orwindows. Keyboard 522 can be a conventional alphanumeric input devicefor communicating information between computer system 500 and computeroperators. Another type of user input device is cursor control device523, such as a mouse, touch mouse, trackball, or other type of cursorfor communicating information between system 500 and users.

Communication device 525 is coupled to bus 512 for accessing informationfrom remote computers or servers through wide-area network.Communication device 525 may include a modem, a router, or a networkinterface device, or other similar devices that facilitate communicationbetween computer 500 and the network. In one aspect, communicationdevice 525 is configured to perform wireless functions. Alternatively,REI system 530 and communication device 525 perform the resource elementcategorization and soft demapping functions in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

The REI system 530, in one aspect, is coupled to bus 511 and isconfigured to perform resource element categorization on received uplinkcommunications as described above to improve overall receiverperformance. The REI system 530 comprises hardware, firmware, or acombination of hardware and firmware.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that,based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from this exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention and its broader aspects. Therefore, the appended claims areintended to encompass within their scope all such changes andmodifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this exemplaryembodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for determining data stream from networkcommunication, comprising: obtaining information steam containingmultiple resource elements (REs) from a network transmission;identifying a portion of the REs containing uplink control information(UCI) as UCI REs from the REs containing data; determining a first UCIRE containing acknowledgement (ACK) information, a second UCI REcontaining first channel state information (CSI1), and a third UCI REcontaining second channel state information (CSI2); categorizing thefirst UCI RE as a first category, categorizing the third UCI RE as athird category, and categorizing REs containing data as the thirdcategory; and sending the first category indicating ACK information to adownstream processing component.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving one or more symbols containing information streamsfrom an uplink transmission.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: categorizing the second UCI RE as a second category.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising sending categorized REs to a softdemapper situated at the downstream processing component.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising sending categorized REs to a descramblersituated at the downstream processing component.
 6. The method of claim1, further comprising sending categorized REs to a UCI combiner andextractor located at the downstream processing component.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising sending categorized REs to a signal tonoise plus interference ratio (SINR) calculator.
 8. the method of claim1, wherein identifying a portion of the REs includes categorizing REs inresponse to parameters received from a configuration parameter block. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an array forindexing REs associated to categories.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising soft-demapping categorized REs based on theirassociated categories.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdescrambling categorized REs based on their associated categories. 12.The method of claim 1, further comprising combining and extracting UCIfrom categorized REs.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprisingcalculating signal to interference noise ratios (SINR) for each categoryof REs.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving theinformation stream from one of a layer demapper and a despreader.
 15. Amethod for categorizing data stream from network communication,comprising: obtaining information steam containing multiple resourceelements (REs) from a network transmission; identifying a portion of theREs containing uplink control information (UCI) as UCI REs from the REscontaining data; determining a first UCI RE containing second channelstate information (CSI2) and a second UCI RE containing first channelstate information (CSI1); categorizing the first UCI RE as a firstcategory and categorizing REs containing data as the first category; andsending the first category indicating CSI2 to a downstream processingcomponent.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving oneor more symbols containing information streams from an uplinktransmission.
 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:categorizing the second UCI RE as a second category.
 18. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising: identifying a third UCI RE containingacknowledgement (ACK) information; and categorizing the third UCI RE asa third category.
 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising sendingcategorized REs to a soft demapper situated at the downstream processingcomponent.
 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising sendingcategorized REs to a descrambler situated at the downstream processingcomponent.
 21. A method for categorizing data stream from networkcommunication, comprising: obtaining information steam containingmultiple resource elements (REs) from a network transmission;identifying a portion of the REs containing uplink control information(UCI) as UCI REs from the REs containing data; determining a first UCIRE containing first channel state information (CSI1) and categorizingthe first UCI RE as a first category; determining a second UCI REcontaining second channel state information (CSI2); categorizing thesecond UCI RE as a second category and categorizing REs containing dataas the second category; and sending the first category indicating CSI1to a downstream processing component.
 22. The method of claim 21,further comprising receiving one or more symbols containing informationstreams from an uplink transmission.
 23. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: identifying a third UCI RE containing acknowledgement (ACK)information; and categorizing the third UCI RE as a third category. 24.An apparatus for determining data stream from network communication,comprising: means for obtaining information steam containing multipleresource elements (REs) from a network transmission; means foridentifying a portion of the REs containing uplink control information(UCI) as UCI REs from the REs containing data; means for determining afirst UCI RE containing acknowledgement (ACK) information, a second UCIRE containing first channel state information (CSI1), and a third UCI REcontaining second channel state information (CSI2); means forcategorizing the first UCI RE as a first category, means forcategorizing the third UCI RE as a third category, and means forcategorizing REs containing data as the third category; and means forsending the first category indicating ACK information to a downstreamprocessing component.
 25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprisingmeans for receiving one or more symbols containing information streamsfrom an uplink transmission.
 26. The apparatus of claim 24, furthercomprising: means for categorizing the second UCI RE as a secondcategory.
 27. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means forsending categorized REs to a soft demapper situated at the downstreamprocessing component.